Author Interview: Nicole Hall #interview #paranormalromance

As promised last week, here’s my interview with Nicole Hall, author of the Modern Magic series.

Welcome, Nicole! Let’s jump in. Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Usually, writing energizes me. I get excited when a scene plays out just right or one of my characters has a snappy comeback I wasn’t expecting. But like everyone, I only have so much energy. There are days when I come to the keyboard exhausted already, and it’s a slog to get through my word count before I can pass out in bed. Luckily, those days are few and far between.

I totally get that! What are common traps for aspiring writers?

There are two related ones that tripped me up: comparing yourself to other writers and believing that you’re not good enough. I waited a long time to start publishing because I thought I needed to keep improving, but the best way I’ve found to improve is to put the book out there and learn from any mistakes I make along the way. Related, everyone has different goals with their writing and different skills that aren’t always obvious. Comparing yourself to another author doesn’t give you any valuable information about what you’re doing right. If anything, it highlights those spots where you don’t think you’re good enough.

So true. And impostor syndrome isn’t far behind that… What is your writing Kryptonite?

Facebook. Seriously. I guess social media as a whole, but it usually ends up being Facebook. I sit down to get my words in for the day, make the mistake of checking my feed real quick (spoiler alert: it’s never quick), and suddenly I’ve lost half a day watching funny cat videos. My biggest weakness is actually starting the process each time I sit down at the computer to write. Also, no matter how many times my editor corrects me, I’m going to write “further” instead of “farther.” I’ve put conscious effort into writing the correct word and still gotten it wrong.

LOL. It’s like your fingers have more control over what happens on the keyboard than you do. Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

Not really. I don’t have a lot of time to read for pleasure (see indie published and mom of two small kids), so it’s the height of luxury for me. I’ve had times where I didn’t want to finish a book, but that didn’t stop me from immediately picking up a different one.

You write a good deal of paranormal romance set in series. Series writing is often the “hot” thing to do from a marketing perspective, but sometimes readers just want a romance to run one book – how do you go about choosing the overarching theme and story that binds the books together to keep readers coming back for more?

One of the best parts of writing paranormal romance is creating a fantastical world that I want to live in for a while. Writing in a series allows me to explore that world more thoroughly than any single book would. As far as the overarching theme and story, I start with a ‘what if’ question. What if the fairies were real? What if they only looked small and cute to lure you into a false sense of security? My mind finds ways to take left turns wherever I can and it snowballs from there. I try to write books that I would want to keep reading, and I hope my readers come along for the ride.

Great advice! How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Publishing my first book made the whole process less scary. When fear didn’t get in my way, I didn’t spend as much time second-guessing myself. That meant I wrote faster because I didn’t look back. I realized that even if I make a mistake, I can adjust and learn from it.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel and why?

You know this is an impossible question to ask. Pick one book? Off the top of my head, Isn’t She Lovely by Lauren Layne. It’s a fantastic retelling of the Pygmalion story that pokes fun at itself but still makes you care utterly about the characters. The banter is top-notch, and the tension is off the charts, but the story still has an air of lightness throughout it. It’s not one of her well-known books, but it should be.

Ooh! Added it to my TBR. We indie writers are all on that never-ending quest to discover effective ways to connect our stories to readers. What have you found to work with marketing your own books? 

Writing the next book. I am terrible at marketing my own books (remember the Facebook debacle from before?). I’m not a salesperson, I’m a story-teller, so trying to convince anyone to buy something is torture for me. I try to put out a fantastic story with a great cover (all thanks to my fabulous cover artist) and a blurb that draws attention while still representing my unique writing style. I spend time being goofy on Facebook with my reader group, and when I remember, I post on Instagram. But in the end, it’s the holy trinity of story, cover, and blurb.

Sticking to the basics, excellent! I love how you use folklore and magic in your stories. What kinds of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I’ve been studying folklore and magic (on purpose) since my teen years, so a long, long time. At this point, most of the information is already swimming around in my head, so I don’t do a lot of research beforehand. During the writing process, I’m more liberal with it. Honestly, it’s usually the other way around where I’m like I want to write a story about a kitsune (Japanese folklore), how can I work this into my series?

We totally need more books starring fox shapeshifters! Some days it takes a lot of work to get organised enough to get the words down on the page – between all the other things that have to be done in a day. It’s also easy to get lost in all the non-writing tasks authors need to do, like marketing, networking with other authors, maintaining a platform, etc. How do you organise your typical writing day? 

Ha! Organization would be nice. I take care of the mom duties first, then settle into my office. If I can resist the allure of Facebook, I do the non-writing tasks in the morning because those usually have quicker deadlines. I spend lunch time with the fam, then put aside 2-4 hours for writing in the afternoon. I have daily word goals, so if I don’t meet the goal during that time, I put in a few more hours after the kids go to bed, usually 9-11. That’s the ideal schedule. I try to keep it flexible for when life gets in the way (which happens often, who knew kids need 26 snacks a day?).

Sounds organised enough to me! Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

I’ve read a lot of books that changed the way I looked at the world, and I’ve read many craft books that made me look at writing through a different lens. Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces hit both of those. I like craft books that explore writing as culture.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Starting. Telling my imposter syndrome to shut it and go back to the corner of my mind where I can ignore all those negative thoughts. Once I can get past that and focus on the story, just telling the story, it’s like flying.

Also, blurbs.

I hear you! Thanks so much for doing this interview.

About the Author

Nicole Hall is a smart-ass with a Ph.D. and a potty mouth. She writes stories that have magic, sass, and romance because she believes that everyone deserves a little happiness. Coffee makes her happy, messes make her stabby, and she’d sell one of her children for a second season of Firefly. Her paranormal romance series, Modern Magic, is available now.

Let Nicole know what you thought about her sassy, magical world because she really does love hearing from readers. Email her at nicolehallbooks@gmail.com or find her at Muse Interrupted Romance on Facebook!

Want to find out when the newest Nicole Hall book hits the shelves? Sign up for the weekly Muse Interrupted newsletter. You’ll get a welcome gift, the Modern Magic ebook, plus new release info, giveaways, exclusive content, and previews of the new books especially for fans.

Do you have questions for Nicole? Have you read any of her books? Do you like paranormal romance?